eleventh and twelfth days.

i've been slacking. :[ i skipped yesterday (day eleven) because it was kind of a busy day. i know i should have made time for it and i know i could have. i was supposed to do yoga x, but i ended up doing it today with legs and back. i think i only got through about half of yoga. a lot of it ends up being about arm and core strength, which i'm obviously lacking. the whole first half is a lot of downward dog and warrior, which relies on a lot of quad and arm strength. i'm fine in the lunges for the warrior positions, but after doing downward dog 98,031 times, it gets a little grueling to keep your arms in the air for a while. i'm kind of disappointed that i couldn't do more, but i'm glad i did at least some of it.

legs and back wasn't as bad. i did probably 50 minutes of the 60 minute workout. i'm still sweaty as crap and i can definitely feel in my muscles that they were working. pretty much the only thing i couldn't do with all the wall squats. i did some, but not all of them. i think i did about 30 seconds. :P they kill. i couldn't do some of the squats, either. apparently my legs aren't as strong as i thought they were haha. i'm also supposed to be doing pull-ups, but that doesn't work out for me. so i do shoulder presses. i do them the same way the do the pull-ups on the video, but i know it's not quite the same seeing as how i'm not pressing my entire body weight hahah. and the calf raises holy moly. pain.

i was getting super tired so i skipped ab ripper. :[ i was going to skip it earlier this week but i didn't, so i might add it tomorrow or with x stretch on saturday. i'm not 100% excited about kenpo x because i'm not the hugest fan, but i will get through it!

oh, and i dropped 1.7 pounds since three days ago! i know i can lose the weight, as long as i keep my eating habits in check. i'm trying to keep it up!

tenth day!

today was shoulders and arms and ab ripper x. my friend kayla came over and worked out with me, which totally motivated me to do more than i would have alone. i actually did the ab ripper x workout instead of skipping it!! given i didn't do everything, but i did some, which is definitely better than nothing, right? this workout was so much fun because i wasn't doing it alone. i was able to laugh and talk and not just go through the motions all boring-like. not that i don't like the workout when i'm doing it by myself, but for me, it's much better with a friend. :] i think i can safely say that i didn't skip anything in the workout except for 8 minutes of the 75 minute workout, but that was because kayla had to leave and i had to watch my show. :D but i pushed myself harder than last week!

i know i'm going to be feeling it tomorrow, but i'm on such a high right now because i've been eating pretty healthy today and i saw "how to train your dragon" again with my man this morning (for $1!) and i have an interview for an internship tomorrow (yay!) and it's all around just been a good day. i did go out and get that sushi, which was amazing. if you like sushi, definitely check out hana sushi in altamonte springs next to the mall. it's amazing and very, very reasonably priced. and the majority of the rolls are pretty healthy because several of them contain avocados, which are apparently really good for you. i usually hate avocados, but i really like them in sushi rolls.

i'm so looking forward to yoga x tomorrow! kayla's coming over again and we're doing it together! yay!

ninth day!

yesterday was cardio x. even though last week didn't not go well, yesterday was even better! i probably only skipped maybe five minutes because of stuff i just couldn't plain do. it was overall a great workout and i loved the fact that i still felt great afterward! i had sushi for lunch yesterday before i worked out, so no more repeat nausea. (mmm sushi sounds really good now...)

i'm really digging this program so far. like i said before, it's really hard to stay on the nutrition plan for me, so i've just been trying to eat healthier. it's hard when the only healthy things you have in the house require preparation and cooking and you really don't feel like making anything. :P but i think i'm getting better. i weighed in on sunday and i gained back almost three of the pounds i lost, but i'm still down two and a half pounds. it's not the best, but i just need to work a little harder. two pounds in a week is pretty good, but i know i can step it up. i weigh in tomorrow so we'll see how much progress i've made since sunday!

today is shoulders and arms and ab ripper x. not 100% sure if i'm actually going to do ab ripper or not, but i might try. we shall see!

now to go figure out if i want to pick up some sushi...

seventh day!

yesterday i didn't get to do core synergistics till like 10:30pm. i had two graduation parties to go to which was fun, so while jd was at his employee meeting i popped in the dvd and went to town.

core synergistics was a little easier this time. i still don't have a very strong core, but i'm getting better. one move i liked that really worked my core and my arms was running planks. you just punch your knees to your chest when you're in plank. it's not so bad the first few, then my abs started shaking from the exertion. it was fun though. i like this workout because it mixes in so many moves and you're not just working out your core. you're working your arms and legs and abs all at the same time. it makes it more interesting and not so boring.

so this weekend i fluffed up big time on my diet. it was just because of convenience and ease and i know i shouldn't have eaten all that junk, but i did. after i finished core synergistics last night, i laid down on my bed and all of a sudden i felt nauseous. i'm not 100% sure that it was all the junk i had been eating or the chocolate milk i drank as my recovery drink, but i had used the chocolate milk all last week as my recovery drink after workouts and i never felt nauseous, so i'm thinking it was the junk food. it wasn't pleasant, but it's a good way to kick my butt into eating healthier!

oh, and saturday i wanted to do x stretch, but it was just kind of a blah day. i went swimming with my dog and got my heart rate up a little bit, then it started raining, which always makes me not want to do anything. i wasn't sure i wanted to sit and stretch for an hour, so i skipped it. i'll definitely be doing it this saturday, though. i want to see what it's like.

today i have cardio x coming up a little later. i might jump in the pool for another quick swim as well. look for my next post tonight!

sixth day.

sorry i didn't get around to blogging yesterday. but i did get through kenpo x! it was actually kinda...boring? hahah. some of it was alright but it was just lots of kicking and punching whereas i like to do more than just two different things in a workout. i was definitely sweating by the end, but i'd have to say it was my least favorite workout so far. not that it was bad, just not necessarily my thing.

today i can either rest or do x stretch. i got in the pool for about 10 minutes and did some laps. not a whole lot, but it got my heart rate up for a little bit. i probably will go the x stretch in a little while, just because my legs are so stiff. i keep trying to stretch out my calves, but ever since the legs and back workout, they've been so sore that i've just been trying to avoid getting charley horses. my thighs and butt are pretty sore too (tmi? :P) hopefully x stretch can help me out a little bit in those areas.

i made myself lunch yesterday, trying to make a recipe that's in the p90x nutrition guide. shrimp stir fry. i had stir fry vegetables in my freezer that i've been dying to eat, and i had just bought frozen shrimp to try out this recipe. i didn't actually follow the recipe exactly, but i used brown rice like they told me to. cooked everything perfectly, put it all together, put some soy sauce in it, and took a bite.

now, to be fair, it was probably actually pretty good. the vegetables were good, the shrimp was good, but i haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate brown rice. it is disgusting. it shouldn't even be called rice. i wanted to like it so badly, but nope. the brown rice had to ruin it. it soaked up all the soy sauce so i couldn't even taste it. i ate all the shrimp and some of the vegetables out of it and put the rest in the fridge for my mom. sad face. :[

but oh well. i know brown rice is much better for me than white rice, but i can't force myself to eat something i don't like. so i'd definitely make it again, just without the brown (nasty) rice.

anywayz. x stretch, here i come!

fifth day!

so since i had to skip yesterday, i did two workouts today. i don't really know what i was thinking, but i'm glad i did it. i would have hated skipping an entire day and not making it up. sooo today i did yoga x and legs and back. like i said earlier, i was supposed to do ab ripper x, but i didn't want to kill myself. so as i drink my recovery drink (yummy chocolate milk), i'll tell you about my workouts!

first was yoga x, which is a 90-minute workout. let me tell you. this is not the yoga i'm used to. i wasn't expecting hatha yoga, which is more relaxation/meditation than anything, but i was expecting astanga, which is pretty hard core. what i got was way beyond that. i probably couldn't do half the poses. this was partly because i seem to have issues with my right ankle and i can't hold it at a 90-degree angle to my other foot, so i didn't want to push that and injure myself. other poses i just wasn't flexible enough to do correctly, but i tried the best i could. i was definitely sweaty and sore by the time i was finished, though. if anyone is interested in yoga, DEFINITELY check out an astanga class or come do this workout with me. it's amazing.

THEN i did legs and back. i was supposed to do a lot of pull-ups, but i know that wouldn't have worked out very well, even with a chair, so i did shoulder presses. not as much work, but i didn't want to just sit there and do nothing. i had to do a ton of squats and lunges, which i'm not a huge fan of, but i did as many as possible. i'm not super friendly with either one of them, so if i didn't get close the amount of reps they were doing, i probably did about half. then calf raises were last. they weren't so bad the first 15 with my toes pointed out, then i did 10 fast, which is when they started to burn. i did 15 with my toes parallel, 10 fast, then 8 pigeon-toed. that's where i quit. it was crazy. i thought i was going to fall down. :P but it feels so good.

so i'm not 100% sure how accurate my scale is (i weigh a 10lb weight first and alter my weight if it isn't 10lbs.) but if it is accurate i've lost 5.5lbs in about 5 days! i'm really hoping that's accurate.

tomorrow, kenpo x! karate, baby!

le sigh.

so yesterday was crazy. i was at school all day, then came home and wrote the paper that was due today (which i got a 39/40 on, thank you very much). the good news is that i (obviously) got the paper done AND took my final today, which i think went pretty well, and i'm free! no more school for three and a half weeks! w00t! however, it didn't allow me to do my yoga x. :[ i was so excited about it, so i was really upset that i couldn't do it. however, i'm going to be crazy and do yoga x AND legs and back tonight. i'm supposed to do ab ripper x as well, but lord knows how well that went last night. besides, a lot of yoga works your abs as well, so i think i'm kindofalittlebit making up for it. i'm starting yoga x in about twenty minutes, so look for my next post in a few hours!

third day.

today i did both shoulders and arms AND ab ripper x. do i have to say that i didn't do a whole lot of the ab workout? i didn't think so. (for those of you who don't know, me and my abs haven't become friends yet.)

however, i did enjoy the shoulders and arms workout. i had to cut it 15 minutes short because my homework needs to get done, but i know i could have completed the rest of the dvd. i was only using 3lb. weights, so it wasn't like i was struggling through the whole workout, but i can feel in my arms and shoulders that they were actually being worked. my only other option was 10lb. weights, and i tried that. needless to say, that didn't work out so well. i'm thinking i need to invest in some 5 or 8lb. weights and/or a resistance band.

some of the shoulder moves were pretty difficult to complete. there was one called seated shoulder flys, where you swing your arms out wide (like a bird flying), bring them down, lean forward slightly, then repeat the process. i got through 16 total flys twice, but by the 16th rep i was definitely feeling it, especially on the leaning one. i also did some chair dips, which weren't as hard as i was expecting them to be. given, i had my knees bent while three of the other people in the dvd were doing it much, much harder ways, but i got through 14 the first time and 13 the second.

overall the workout wasn't that bad. my muscles are definitely feeling it, but i'm thinking i need to up my weight. craigslist, here i come!

tomorrow, yoga x. YAY!

second day!

whew! today was cardio x. i was expecting to do maybe 20-ish minutes total of the 43 minute workout. obviously since i'm overweight, cardio isn't my strong suit. but right off the bat, i was able to jog in place for a minute and a half! keep in mind this was on a yoga mat on a floor with a mat (of sorts) underneath that, but guys. my whole life i've never been able to jog anywhere for more than 30-45 seconds. maybe it was the low impact helping me out, but that empowered me so much. i got through about 35 minutes of the workout, possibly a little bit more. i took a few couple-second breaks and one minute long break, but i paused the dvd, i didn't skip anything.

the best part for me were the "wacky jacks." it's like jumping jacks for 6-year-olds. you put your arms up and spread your legs wide, then jump from one foot to the other while bringing your elbows to your hips. it sounds a little complicated, which is why there's a video at the end for all you visual learners out there.

there was also a few astanga sun salutations mixed into warm up and cool down, which i love. i can't wait for the yoga workout coming up on wednesday.  other moves were some karate stuff, fake jumping through tires (like football players? anyone? bueller?), and jumping squats.

even though cardio used to be my worst enemy, i think we're up to frenemies now. i really, really liked this workout. i knew i was actually working my body and it was nice to take a break off most of my muscles, because my hamstrings are killing me from yesterday. i felt this little pop in my quads when i was walking today. it freaked me out a little at first.

coming up tomorrow night, shoulders and arms AND ab ripper x. oh lordy.

first day!

i finished the first workout! i couldn't complete every exercise, but i did what i could and pushed myself until i couldn't push any harder.

so the first workout in the first week of the lean track is core synergistics. it's all about your core, but working out every other muscle along with it. so it's not like you're doing a million sit ups and crunches, but stuff that you can actually feel as your doing it. there was a bunch of stuff i couldn't do (push ups hate me i hate push ups) and there's something called chatarunga runs that just didn't work out. but i made through most of everything, even if i did fewer reps than they did. some of it was actually very similar to yoga. lots of lunges, boats, bananas, and planks. their versions of plank though is nuts. you plank, then go lower, almost touching the ground, but not. then plank again, and repeat the process a few times. it's like really slow push ups.

overall, i got super sweaty and nasty and i feel like i actually did something, even if i only got through maybe a total of 35 out of the 55 minutes of video. it was hard, but not impossibly so. so far i'm really enjoying it! the nutrition plan isn't working out quite so well yet, though. i just ate two twizzlers (EDIT: and a mini bag of lays and some sour gummy worms...i probably need to work on this a little bit). i'm sure that's not on the plan.

until tomorrow!